Wednesday, 15 March 2017

Honey bee nest

After a morning of data crunching I took myself off for a lunchtime walk to refresh my tired brain - just a mile or so around the woods in the sunshine - just what was needed. Brimstones on the wing, birds singing and bees buzzing - spring definitely feels like it has arrived today. The bees in question were both bumble bees and honey bees and the honey bees had a nest! At the edge of the meadow just past the church is an old tree. It looks a bit past its best with numerous boughs missing, splits in the bark and woodpecker holes but on close inspection it is full of life. Today amongst the blue tits and great tits flew the bees. I heard them first, scanning the tree before seeing them congregate around an opening about half way up the tree. The photos are on my longest zoom, for obvious reasons, so not the best quality, but you can still make out some of the worker bees with their golden cache of pollen as they make their way into the nest.